The present invention relates generally to a computer implemented method, data processing system, and computer program product for resource location. More specifically, the present invention relates to selecting among preferred resources, for example, websites, based on a networking environment.
Packet networks have formed a core feature to computer communications during recent decades. Packet networks are computing environments that use a computer to break a continuous stream of data into smaller units called packets. A packet comprises two parts. First, the payload is the actual data, which is a subset of the original data stream. Second, the packet may comprise a header, which includes, for example, addressing information concerning at least the destination of the packet. The packets are dispatched to a network of routers and links in a manner that permits each packet to take a differing route than the packets sent ahead of it.
A recent trend in the computer industry is to shift employees to use mobile computers as opposed to desktop computers. This trend results in a user employing a computer in both an office setting as well as within a home setting. While a user is employing a computer within a network of office computers or intranet, a domain administrator may assign the computer an Internet Protocol (IP) address within a range of IP addresses. An IP address may be according to the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) or Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) standards having at least 32 bits. An intranet or Internet protocol address is an IP address selected from among a range of IP addresses, where the range is a set number of 32-bit or larger addresses. Specifically, the domain administrator assigns IP addresses within the range with which the network is configured to operate. In other words, the intranet IP address, used when a computer is on the business network, is an address issued within an intranet, for example, a Virtual Private Network (VPN). A VPN is a packet network that is either not connected to the Internet, or an Internet connection is regulated by a firewall.
A user operating within the VPN is allowed access to a number of servers beyond the firewall. These servers typically are inaccessible through the intranet because the firewall will exclude traffic unless such traffic is authorized according to the VPN. A side effect of this circumstance is that a user who has taken a mobile computer outside the intranet may have difficulties when opening a browser to use a preferred resource, particularly when the preferred resource is a server on the intranet. Normally such a resource is located using a Domain Name Service (DNS) operated within the firewall in a manner to look up a corresponding IP address. Importantly, the IP address may only be available to computers operating within the firewall. Accordingly, a browser invoked on a mobile computer may not be able to locate the server. For the user to access promptly the Internet resources, the user is required to type a reachable resource into the browser address field, or otherwise select a resource to interact with through the browser.
An intranet may have additional flexibility through the operation of a firewall. A firewall operates as a control point that binds the intranet to a larger network, for example, the Internet. The firewall inspects packets to determine first whether to admit the packet across an intranet/Internet boundary. Secondly, the firewall may route the packet to an appropriate link, possibly changing packet addresses along the way. Some firewalls are equipped to authenticate nodes located outside the intranet in a manner that those nodes so authenticated are permitted to send packets across the intranet/Internet boundary. An intranet configured to admit traffic from authenticated sources is a VPN. A VPN server process operates on the firewall, while a VPN client executes on the remote computer.
A method and apparatus to overcome these deficiencies is desirable.